Playboy's 20Q: Tori Spelling

Tori Spelling has never downplayed the correlation between having a successful career as an actor and having a successful television producer for a father.

Prime-time sex-and-schmaltz pioneer Aaron Spelling first cast his then-six-year-old daughter, Victoria Davey Spelling, in an episode of "Vegas." At 16, Tori easily segued from her real-life upbringing in Beverly Hills (she grew up in a 56,000-square-foot mansion) to the role of good girl Donna Martin on Fox' "Beverly Hills 90210." Spelling has parlayed the exposure from a hit series and her standing as a member of television aristocracy into an ever-expanding body of work. In addition to her nine seasons on "90210," she has appeared in Pursuits," "Awake to Danger," "A Friend to Die For" and "Coed Call Girl." Pursuing a big-screen career, she made a tongue-in-cheek appearance in "Scream 2" as Neve Campbell's alter ego, and her work in the independent film "The House of Yes," in which she played opposite Parker Posey, was critically acclaimed.

Robert Crane caught up with Spelling at Château Marmont in Hollywood. He reports: "Tori is taller, prettier and sexier in person than on film. For a TV star and a Beverly Hills showbiz rich girl, she is unpretentious and down-to-earth. She's not entirely comfortable when people stare at her as she enters a room. I'm still trying to reconcile that fact with her fantasy of being a stripper."

1

[Q] Playboy: You're the queen of the TV movie. Which physical or mental traumas have not yet been properly explored by the networks?

[A] Spelling: I think they've all been covered. I, alone, have done every single tragedy out there. I've been stalked, raped, murdered, everything. Part of the reason I stopped doing TV movies is that we were looking for something new to do and there wasn't anything. And, unfortunately, the networks do the same things over because that's what draws in viewers.

2

[Q] Playboy: While you were growing up, which Aaron Spelling show did you think life actually resembled?

[A] Spelling: You're looking for me to say Dynasty, aren't you? But probably it's Family. I know it's a reserved, boring answer, but we are a close family. We have a huge house, a really close family, and my dad is always there.

3

[Q] Playboy: What would we be surprised to find in your purse, in your refrigerator and on your night table?

[A] Spelling: In my purse--I have so much crap in here. My thumbees for massaging, so you can get in really good to massage the shoulders. I'm a really good masseuse and I always massage my male co-stars. So I keep them on hand. Refrigerator--probably this stuff called Fluff. It's marshmallow spread. You can only get it back East. So I bought a case when I went to New York with a bunch of friends. You can put it on ice cream. It's really yummy.

Night table--that's a rough one. It's so cluttered--I'm not the neatest person. This is really weird, but I have a bad habit. I get millions of catalogs and I love to go through them and order stuff because it's so fascinating that you can order things by mail and they arrive at your doorstep. I fill out ten order forms a night and then forget to send them in, which is good because it saves my bank account. I find them later all filled out. By that time, the styles are already out.

4

[Q] Playboy: If it were OK with all parties concerned, whose boyfriend or husband would you borrow for a day? What would you do, where would you go, how would you get away with it?

[A] Spelling: Let's go with the obvious. I've always loved Tom Cruise, but Nicole could join in. Any way you want it to mean. As long as we're not talking about reality here, let's go for it. I'd take a big yacht out in the ocean and sail to a small island where we could walk on the beach wearing little coconuts and Tom could recite lines from Top Gun to me. I love Top Gun. That would really get me in the mood.

5

[Q] Playboy: Speaking of Golden Globes, name the best cleavage in Hollywood.

[A] Spelling: I think it would be Madonna. She is kind of running over. Pamela Anderson's is pretty nice. There's a lot. Did you see Julianne Moore's when she was pregnant? Her husband is lucky. She looks good. She was huge. My mom has really good cleavage. My mom has these great breasts. She hates them, but I think they're great. She's like, "Do you know what it's like walking around with double Ds?" I'm like, "Oh, please. Lucky you."

6

[Q] Playboy: Who's dumber--women who name their boyfriend's or husband's dick or guys who name theirs?

[A] Spelling: Guys by far. That's so cocky, excuse the expression, to do. That's such an ego. If I were with a man who did that, it would be such a turnoff. But I think it's kind of cute if it's your boyfriend's. It's yours to share.

7

[Q] Playboy: Do you have any nicknames?

[A] Spelling: Gentle Ben. I'm just kidding. That just came to mind.

8

[Q] Playboy: Why does being a stripper rank at the top or near the top of some women's fantasies?

[A] Spelling: There are two reasons I find it appealing. In today's society, women who have large breasts dress seductively and we've been conditioned to feel that we have to look like that to be accepted by men and feel sexy. That's my one show for feminism. On the other hand, I think being a stripper is being free with your sexuality. I'm a really good dancer and my favorite dance moves are what women do in strip clubs. I'm good at it and I think I would be a great stripper. It's always been a fantasy to get up and do a strip dance. If I weren't so recognized I would totally do it. If I could hide my face and sneak into a strip club and do it, I definitely would. I just love how they dress and present themselves. It's very appealing. Of course, it's not appealing in certain strip clubs where it's all about sex and grinding and stuff, but I like the clubs where there are great dancers and they have great bodies. Yeah, they're taking it off, but they're doing great moves, spinning around, doing splits. They're really sexy. I love their high-heeled shoes. I have them. They're like six or seven inches. Sometimes when I'm alone in my apartment I put them on and wear nothing else and dance around in front of the mirror and do my little stripper dance.

9

[Q] Playboy: Tell us something about yourself that would shock your parents.

[A] Spelling: My parents know everything--most of it through reading interviews. But I joined the mile high club--had sex in an airplane. They might not know, but there you go.

I was going to Europe with a guy I was dating. It was a big plane so nobody really noticed. Everybody on those European trips--I had never been on a flight to Europe--they just get hammered. They don't notice what you're doing. You could do it in the middle of the aisle. It's something I had always wanted to do, but I'm scared of flying. So I wondered if I was too scared to do it because I usually can't get up from my seat because I'm petrified. But we did it.

It was in the middle of the night. Everyone was either drinking in the bar or passed out in their seats. We just booked right into the bathroom. The stewardess saw us go in together. We figured that people must do it all the time. It was a small stall, though, so it was hard to move around. It's not like it's very sexy or romantic, but it gets the job done. I had planned to do it all along, so I was prepared and wore a long skirt.

10

[Q] Playboy: Parents have a view of their children that may not change much--even when the kids become adults. Is there something you would like your parents to understand?

[A] Spelling: They don't understand how responsible I am. We have dinner together every Sunday night. If I'm sick or something and I can't go, my dad will say, "Do you want us to send food over? There's probably nothing in your refrigerator." I'm like, "Dad, I'm 25, I go to the market." "You do? You can do that?" Yeah, I can go to the market. My dad came over and looked in my refrigerator and he was shocked. He said, "You have food." They don't understand that I can do things for myself and I'm responsible. I've been living on my own for four years, but they still don't get that I'm an adult and can handle myself. And they worry a lot more than they should. I still get "It's cold outside, put on your jacket."

11

[Q] Playboy: You're not comfortable flying. Give us the Tori Spelling flight-comfort regimen.

[A] Spelling: I always call my parents to say goodbye, which freaks them out. I have a little guardian angel pin that I always wear, and I have to take my teddy bears with me. I have a teddy bear family. There are four [sic] of them--grandma, grandpa, momma, daddy and baby, and they all have to go with me. Then I always have to put my right foot into the plane first. I always have to sit by the window. I always have to have a glass of wine. That's very necessary--more than one glass actually. I am constantly asking the flight attendants when there's a noise, "Is this normal?" I cry once or twice during the flight. Whoever is with me usually has a bruise on his arm because I'm grabbing him. That's why I can never fly alone, because some stranger would be like, "Get off of me." I'd be on his lap. It would be bad.

12

[Q] Playboy: We've read that you're interested in threesomes. How would you recruit the guys? Would you have to know them?

[A] Spelling: This is something you read? I have fantasies about having a threesome with two guys? I've never had a one-night stand. So it would have to be with guys I know. I wouldn't want them to be good friends either, so maybe two guys I was casually dating or something. Maybe I'll just go out on a limb and say two guys I don't know.

I use to have the fantasy of me and two guys, but as I get older I've started to think it would be good with a guy and a girl. It's something I've never experienced, but, like I said, it's a fantasy. The only way I would be with another woman is if it were to please a boyfriend. I'd be more willing to try it out. I would never do it on my own. But then I think, Well, what if he likes her better than me and they start dating and I'm left out? But if it were a guy I was just dating and I didn't really mind if he was with another girl, that would be an ideal situation. I wouldn't want it to be a girl I know. And she'd have to be a stripper.

13

[Q] Playboy: Coed Call Girl. We didn't think it was so bad. How could you have made it better?

[A] Spelling: Well, I couldn't have done it. There was no way on that piece. I'm sorry. My friends and I will go home late at night after having a couple of drinks, and we'll watch it just so we can laugh at it. It gets really good laughs.

14

[Q] Playboy: We understand that not being near a washroom doesn't deter you from whizzing. Are you forgetful when you pass a ladies' room or do you admire spontaneity?

[A] Spelling: Men can do it anywhere and they don't get jived. But when a woman does it, it's like, "Why did she do that? Was she drunk or something?" No, I just had to go. My friends and I have always been like that--you have to go and can't find a bathroom, you pull off the road and go in the bushes or on someone's lawn. Why not? But I never peed by a restaurant. That is totally false. I don't know where that came from. We don't just pull over in front of Sky Bar. We'll go down an alley or something. Of course you make sure no one's there. And a rat biting your ass would suck.

15

[Q] Playboy: Do your dates find this behavior charming or appalling?

[A] Spelling: Thanks to Playboy I probably won't get any more dates. Thank you very much.

16

[Q] Playboy: You're a member of Hollywood royalty. How do you know when suitors are sincere?

[A] Spelling: If they mention my father within the first ten minutes, they're out of there. It's so funny. You would think they would know that's not what I want to hear--but they don't. They say, (continued on page 149) Tori Spelling (continued from page 122) "How's it going?" I'm thinking, Wow, he's cute, he likes me, he's into me. And then, "How's the show this season?" It happens all the time. It happens not just with boyfriends but also with friends. You know, I've had friends--I thought they were friends--and we'll all hang out and a month later it'll be like, "So, I'm auditioning for the show and just wanted to let you know." It's rough.

17

[Q] Playboy: If someone were to steal a videotape from your private collection, what would he see on it?

[A] Spelling: This is kind of embarrassing: probably soap operas. I have a million tapes of Santa Barbara.

One time a boyfriend and I videotaped ourselves having sex while on vacation. We shot it, but erased it afterward. We were ahead of the times.

18

[Q] Playboy: You've said that if you were a man for a day, one of the things you would do is masturbate. What makes you think you'd be good at it?

[A] Spelling: Is there a wrong way to masturbate? You do whatever feels good, right? I'm sure I'd be able to figure out which stroke satisfies my needs. And I'd definitely have sex with a woman to see what being on the other side is like.

19

[Q] Playboy: What's the most appealing or bewildering part of male plumbing?

[A] Spelling: I don't think I'd want something swinging between my legs, knocking me in the legs. Damn, that's annoying. And there are two other things behind it. I wouldn't be into that. It's appealing because it's right there. It's out there. It would turn me into Al Bundy, with my hand down my pants. It would be like, Yes, my piece. I'd be just holding it. Actually, I don't know if I'd want to share it with anybody. I probably wouldn't leave my house. Big bottle of Lubriderm and I would stay home.

20

[Q] Playboy: Is oral sex adultery?

[A] Spelling: Any dealings below the belt with another person are adultery. Besides, I think oral sex is more intimate than intercourse. This sounds bad, but you can almost disconnect when you're having regular sex, because it's not like you're touching it. But when it's in your mouth, that's very private. I would have to know a man really, really well before I'd do that. I think it's great, but...